Got Skills!
by Amcm74
Summary: Professions can get you in so much freaking trouble. How come no one told me this?


Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Warcraft. Life is so unfair. All the characters are the property of their creators

Okay here the deal, wrote this forever ago. It's not Betaed... at all. It's a one shot from Male Blood Elf PoV. I am posting it for a reviewer who let it slip she likes the Belfs! Otherwise this would have died on my hard drive at some point in the future.

Got Skills!

Leveling skills isn't something I excel at doing. My leather working was lagging behind. Practically none existent next to my level. I guess somewhere deep down I was holding out hope that it would level itself. Clearly it was not the case. I had a friend come to me and asked for a certain pattern. He was pretty sure I would have it. I didn't, and that became a huge joke. Not one where people laugh with you either.

That is how I ended up at Raventusk Village in Hinterlands. It was early in the morning, with not much of anyone around. I planned on skinning the turtles the beach was famous for. The plus part for me was there were bottles of Pupellyverbos Port littering the beach. That alone would make the task bearable.

I decided to run along the beach myself. Leaving my wolf in the village. No use making the beast come with me. He also impedes my ability to stealth, over loving creature that he is.

I passed only twenty or so minutes before I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. The lone path that leads to the beach has been a target of my periodic scans. But as it happened, I was not actively looking. No one would have too. The thundering of hooves was not to be ignored. If anyone could ignore the flaming legs of a Dread Steed. It took no brain power to know the encroached to my space was a Warlock. A quick scan revealed a decidedly female human form.

I faded from sight as I pulled my daggers. Blasted Alliance had been pushing my already suffering people hard since the Dark Portal had been reopened. We still tended to keep to ourselves as we acclimated to the races of the Horde.

There was not much time to loose myself in thought. Not that I had any intention of doing so. The Alliance fool had wandered into my domain. She would pay with her life. I got a closer look as she rode right past me. She was clothed in a full set of teal colored armor. The color clashing with the mount. Human's had no real sense of style. The woman's hair was black as night. I scoffed. Of course it was, Just try and find me a warlock with out those ebony strands. They are truly rare. Shadow seemed to permeate the human Warlocks. Unlike my people. We can harness such power and still glow as bright as the sun. Endless years of tapping the arcane recessed of the Sun Well did have advantages.

She pulled her mount up and jumped off in a swift motion. I inch closer to see her hitting a mine of iron ore. She makes quick work of it. Clearly not practicing a skill as I am doing. She finished quickly and moves on down the beach to the next one.

I hang back. There is no way out but past me. So as she fades from sight I feel no sense of loss. I look around and prepare my trap. Fortune smiles on me as I note a mine she has missed. On her way back she will surely stop at it. That is when I can make my move.

The plan was perfect. She rode back and pulled up next to me. Once again she tossed her legs over the back of her mount and dropped to the ground. I let her mine the deposit. Wait until she has packed the iron safely away and returned her pick. She reaches for the saddle but her hands never reach it. I sap her with the skill of a professional. What would you expect? When it comes to being a rogue that is exactly what I am. But I am a bit more ruthless then others. Like a cat with a mouse I toy with her. Each time she is almost free of my debilitation I stun her again.

The blackness of her anger starts to radiate off her. I am being completely serious. Truthfully I had never seen anything like it. The waves of power catching my interest. Is it Arcane in nature, I wonder. My people thrive off of the magic. Need it as deeply as one needs food. Perhaps it is like the demonic Fel Energies we have dined on in Outlands? She was a Warlock. It made sense. What ever it was, I wanted to sample it before I killed her. What would it hurt to taste it. Let this power fill my veins and relieve my cravings. I had not absorbed any magic in quite a while as it was. I was due, and killing a member of the Alliance deserved a reward.

The Sap broke, but she could not even mutter an instant cast. My blade came to her throat. My free hand reaching around to pull my victim firmly against me. My glowing eyes locked for but a moment to where the blade touched her fluttering pulse in her neck. Her end would be swift. She was lucky.

My other hand summoned forth her magic. I felt it tingle for a moment before it entered me. Drawing it deep like like a Shaman breaths the smoke of his incense. I have no words for what it was like. So heady and sweet like a refined wine, it rushed with an effect stronger then any drug into my being. This was not Arcane or Fel in nature. It was something completely different. Something I had never been exposed to, or told about. I could not stop myself. I drew it deeper, craved it more. I knew addiction to magic, but this was a fix that could drive one mad. I had to have more. I wanted every single delicious drop before I ended her life.

The thought almost made me ill. It would be like setting flame to rare flowers the produced the most exotic of honeys. My hand rose and turned her face to mine. She was hardly breathing. It was either my blade at her throat or from my theft of her magic. The entire time I had absorbed her essence she had not even flinched under my hand. I looked at her. Truly took the time to stare at her face. Perhaps it was the magic, but she was without a doubt one of the most beautiful humans I had ever seen. It was as if her features had been crafted into perfection. The pale skin was flawless, the black lashes a stark contrast. Then I focused on the bright red lips. I was lost. They called to me. Demanded I tasted them and draw more of her magic. I could not resist. My mouth touched hers softly, but the magic was so hot and electrifying I jerked involuntarily. My blade nicking her neck. A gasp brought her mouth open to mine, and I seized the moment. My dagger dropping away as my other hand forced her head to twist closer to mine.

It was then my back exploded in pain. A fireball scorching me, leaving a burn that scared my body to this day. I lost hold of the Warlock. I stumbled back up and then reached for her. No longer wanting to harm her. No. I did not want her dead. I was unconscious of my motives, but my body was not. It longed to keep her safe and secure. Some where I could feast off her delicious magic. A veritable slave to my senses.

I was a fool. To caught up in myself. My powers, my abilities, my strength. She proved to me almost immediately that she too had skills. Fear gripped me. Overwhelming, irrational terror. I knew it was magic, but I could not breath through it's coils.

"How. Dare. You!" She snarled. That lovely face twisting in rage. She shouted and screamed at me. The words lost on me. I did not understand her language, but I knew her hatred.

How had I forgotten her anger for the treatment I had given her? Oh, she paid me back in kind. The imp cowered back and stopped throwing fireballs. I realize now that she stopped it with a wordless command. She didn't want me dead. That would be to kind. She wanted me alive screaming and writhing in fear of her, and that is what she got! I have no idea how long I fought my own fears. Every time they would start to fade, I would turn and she was scowl at me and curse me again. Not allowing it to stop until I had no more energy of my own left. My muscles burning, sweat drenching my armor, as I lay trembling on the scarce shore grass.

I turned my head and saw her mount her Dread Steed. No! She could not go. I would not allow her to ride off. I pushed myself up. "Stop Warlock. You are going no where!" I sank back down. Even the effort to command her expending more then I had.

The golden brown eyes flared to life with renewed rage at the sound of my voice. She reached out her hands to me and the pain was all consuming. As if my soul was being torn asunder. When I chanced to open my eyes I realized that was exactly what she had done. The soul shard glowing brightly in her hand. A curt nod as she held it up to me. She turned her mount close enough to spit on me, before turning and riding back up the path.

As she disappeared, there was only one thing I could promise myself. I would find her again. I would taste that magic of hers. I would find away to win against her, and reclaim that shard of my soul. Those promises only got important to me over the following weeks as the withdraw from her magic hit with a ferocity worse then Fel energy. I knew I could never kill her now. She had unwillingly possessed me and all I could think about was how to get her back in my arms again.


End file.
